A Lick and a Promise
by rhymes with ducking glass mole
Summary: Random Malec stories that center around random sayings. And...um...yeah. Wh-hoo!
1. A Lick and a Promise

It was in a sentence on our vocabulary test. I've never heard that saying before, or at least not that I remember. So I immediately thought of these two wonderful guys. ;) I know I'm not using it right (because the answer to the question was 'slapdash') but...eh, English is overrated, right? :) Oh, and I'm also cultural_infidel. And...I wanna talk! But I'll shut up.

Oh, this will probably suck because high school sucks and I don't get to write stories with the wonderfully amazing Morgan anymore. :( Waaah!

On that note...Enjoy! :)

Sunlight streamed through the window of the apartment building, gently spotlighting the purple-sheeted bed and the figures laying there. To an outsider, an emo teen and an older punk. To Magnus Bane, just waking up with a groan, it was the High Warlock of Brooklyn and Alec, a random Shadowhunter who had somehow become his entire world.

Magnus tried to stretch without disturbing his bedmate, and managed a shoulder twitch. He knew it was morning by the sunlight, and probably fairly late morning, meaning he was late. He wriggled his thin body out from under Alec's, draping the teen's arms instead over one of the hugely fluffy pillows lining the head of the bed.

He got dressed in a (quite conservative, he thought) bright purple suit. He quickly brushed his hair and was ready to go. Well, okay, he straightened, gelled, and dusted glitter over his hair, quickly drew on eyeliner and mascara, _then_ was ready. While admiring his reflection, Magnus happened to glance behind him in the mirror. He spun his chair around and gazed dreamily at Alec's sleeping face.

…The same sleeping face which suddenly wrinkled. Damn, that kid always knew when Magnus Bane was watching him. He couldn't just sleep like Magnus would love to.

Alec, too, stretched, sprawling over the bed for a minute with a pleased moan before realizing that he did, indeed, have the whole bed to himself. He sat bolt upright and looked around, quickly locating Magnus, who did tend to stand out in most situations. Alec's mind raced to put together a sentence this early in the morning, trying to sort out, "My, you're up early this morning, what's up?" and ending up with "Huh?"

Magnus laughed, striking a series of model poses for his slowly understanding companion. "I've got a meeting that I'm late for. But you distracted me," he told Alec, sidling over to the bed. "You naughty boy." He laughed while Alec looked startled and leaned back.

"So, gotta go, baby. Hasta la vista. Actually, I'll see you in a couple hours, but still." He paused by the door, giving Alec a little finger wave.

"Wait…" Alec started, finally understanding. "Don't go," he pouted.

"You're so cute when you pout…" Magnus told him, moving closer so he could brush Alec's cheek. "I have to go. But I'll be back soon."

"Promise?" Alec grinned.

"Of course, babe. What's that phrase…" he muttered, thinking. "A lick and a promise!"

"Uh-oh," Alec mumbled, as Magnus Bane nuzzled his neck. The warlock slowly licked up Alec's neck and cheek, then placed a quick kiss on the teen's waiting lips and left, leaving Alec with a smile, a sprinkle of glitter, and the light scent of peaches in the air.

Heehee. Yeah, it's short. But I smell really yummy food, and it's hard to concentrate. :) Review? I always forget to say this, but I really do appreciate reviews. Thankyouthankyou!


	2. Sealed with a Kiss

Okay, so...I decided to just make this a bunch of random Malec stories that center around a saying. Type. Thing. :) Thanks everyone who reviews!!! I'd offer Magnus Bane...but I really don't want to let him out of my bedroom. :D And...um...enjoy!

_All the single ladies, all the single ladies…_Alec jumped, suddenly realizing _his_ pocket was the source of the sound. His phone, actually. Alec frowned, not amused by Magnus Bane's sense of humor or by the strange looks he was getting.

He glanced at the caller ID: Magnus. Alec's frown deepened. He was kind of the last person Alec wanted to talk to right now. He looked around, trying to decide whether to pick up.

Alec was standing in a park, just wandering aimlessly around. Not for the colorful flowers or the smell of spring, exactly, just to clear his mind. Which was getting pretty hard to do, what with everyone nearby obviously associating his usual dark clothes with _serial killer_. He and Magnus had--no, they hadn't had a fight…just a disagreement. Alec sighed. Maybe he just wasn't the sort of person who should ever be in a relationship at all.

The phone launched into its last verse. _Now or never_. Biting his lip, Alec flipped open the phone. "Hello?" He tried to sound like he didn't know who was calling, like he couldn't care less anyway.

"Hey, baby!" Magnus' voice was overly cheerful. He paused, and Alec realized that Magnus actually didn't know what to say. _For once_.

"Sooo…where are you?" Magnus asked, hoping this conversation wasn't really as awkward as it felt.

"Just…out…" Alec replied vaguely.

"Ah. Alec…" Magnus closed his eyes briefly, shutting out the bright sunlight and all the happy little kids playing in front of him. "I'm sorry."

_I'm only slightly uncomfortable. Really,_ the Shadowhunter told himself. "Yeah." He started walking faster, his frustration and discomfort driving him forward. Alec wished he hadn't been so curt now. "It's okay."

Eyes open now, Magnus wandered over to the nearest tree, leaning against it and watching the people--joggers, moms pushing strollers, couples holding hands--moving down the path.

Alec took a deep breath. "And…I'm sorry too." He looked over to his side, saw that he was passing the playground. His eyes skimmed over the kids, shifting over to a man standing in the shadow of a huge, leafy tree. _Wait_…Alec involuntarily sucked in a breath.

Magnus heard, and looked up out of habit. Straight ahead, he saw the familiar stance, shoulders--face. "_Alec_," he breathed, unaware of the phone he was still holding. He took a subconscious, lurching step forward, paused…and saw Alec do the same. With a slight grin, Magnus closed the distance and reached out to Alec.

"Hey, stranger," Magnus tried, with a lopsided smile, hopinghopinghoping Alec had forgiven him.

Alec just looked at him. Then his hard tone softened, and he beamed back at the warlock. "Hey yourself."

Magnus sighed in relief. "Don't _ever_ leave like that again!" he scolded. "I was too upset to gel my hair!" He pointed at his highly out-of-character cap.

"God forbid that ever happen," Alec laughed.

Magnus clasped his hands together and stuck out his lower lip, sniffling dramatically. "Promise not to?"

Alec rolled his eyes, but Magnus just pouted harder. "Okay, okay," he grinned, putting up his hands in surrender. "What about we…seal it with a kiss."


	3. The, Er, Cockles of His Heart

It's been freaking FOREVER! I'm not so good with the motivation stuff...I'm like I'LL DO IT! and then...I don't. I'm sorry. :(

"I think we missed our dinner reservation," Magnus Bane pointed out.

Alec sighed happily and rolled over, draping a pale arm over his unclothed partner (lying unabashedly on top of the wrinkled covers, much to Alec's chagrin). "Oops."

After a quiet moment, the warlock groaned. "Need…food…" he complained, shifting as if to get up, then falling back on the warm blankets. "We should go get some."

The only movement was Alec lazily opening his eyes to challenge Magnus. "Yup," he agreed with a grin, "you probably should."

Magnus flipped his hand over in front of his face, examining his manicure. The sparkly blue complimented his skin tone nicely, he though, bringing out his tan. His cat eyes glinted slyly as he drawled, "You're on top of me, dear." Alec flushed. "The logical solution is for you to get up."

With more grumbling than the movement warranted, Alec dragged his arm off his companion's chest. "Okay, you can go now. You're closer to the door, anyway."

Magnus Bane stuck out his lower lip and clasped his hands. "But I don't wanna get up…"

Alec grinned and rubbed Magnus' arm seductively. "Poor baby," he crooned, his hand now sweeping over the warlock's tight stomach while said warlock's eyes opened wide in surprise. As Alec's warm palm began to creep lower, Magnus practically purred.

Relaxed as he was, it took Magnus too long to register when Alec suddenly tensed, and his frantic grab at the covers didn't slow his fall from the bed. Snootily, Magnus picked himself up off the floor. "That's fighting dirty," he pouted, sticking out his tongue.

Alec stretched out luxuriously on the bed he now had all to himself. "But since you're already up…" he hinted subtly.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Magnus grumbled, unable to completely suppress a smile at Alec's uncharacteristic playfulness. "Food."

He slipped on a satiny robe from the vanity, gracefully enough not to disturb the sundry moisturizers, gels, and make up scattered around. He stalked to the door, playing up his injured pride, before Alec called him back.

"Magnus?" The warlock turned. "Thank youuu," the Shadowhunter said, grinning like an angel. "For what it's worth, I think you're very chivalrous."

Magnus Bane smiled just as angelically and laid a hand lightly over his chest. "How sweet…It simply warms my-" Drawing out his last word, he glanced down at his unbelted robe and enjoyed Alec's embarrassed blush.

Alec cut him off. "The cockles of your heart," he interrupted, defensively muttering "I know the saying" as Magnus looked on with a shit-eating grin.

With another suggestive downward look, Magnus chuckled. "Something like that," he said, and swept off to get food.


	4. URA QT

Yeahhh, definitely don't know where the idea for this came from. And we got a new computer because the old one got all tempermental...and deleted every fucking thing on it. Er, I mean, everything on it. Yup. :( But the new one finally came and it's very shiny and life is good-in the past month we got a third cat and a third dog (both strays)! So it's happily crazy. Maybe I should stop rambling at some point.

Oh, and apparently the NECCO candy hearts had new themes every year, and for 2002 the theme was Fashion Forward. URA QT was one of them. I guess the actual saying thing for this chapter is Be My Valentine though. I'm so inconsistent!

Alec woke up an a strange room. A very, very pink strange room. Opening his eyes a sliver, feigning sleep, he cased his surroundings. Wait…it looked suspiciously like _his_ room. And there-tiptoeing out-was Isabelle, cut-out pink and red hearts and tape in her hand.

He shoved himself out of bed and said in a low voice, "Isabelle. What the hell did you do to my room?"

She froze when she heard her brother's voice, glanced back quickly to see how mad he was (uh, very), and grinned quickly. "Er…happy valentine's day?" she tried with a cheerful smile. When he just growled, she ran out of the room.

Alec was up and chasing her, no longer tired at all. "Get that crap out of my room!" he yelled as she ran into the kitchen. "Isa-oh. Oh." He stopped as soon as he crossed the threshold.

The stone walls of the austere but homey Institute were covered. In yet more brightly colored hearts. And on the counter were three small boxes of…Alec's jaw dropped. Candy hearts. And, shit, heart-shaped cookies? With red sprinkles. This was getting out of hand. "Isabelle. Are you feeling okay?"

Safely on the opposite side of the counter, she smiled again and held out one of the boxes. "I wuv you!"

Jace wandered in. "You've been busy," he told Isabelle, raising an eyebrow.

Alec turned to face him. "Finally! Did she do your room too?"

"Yeah," Jace said, bewildered. "Why are you so upset?"

"What? You…you don't mind?" Of all people, Jace was okay with this madness?

Jace shrugged. "It's…cute," he admitted. "And Clary'll love it. Speaking of…" He walked out of the room, Alec gaping after him.

"See, you old fart?" Isabelle teased. "Even Jace likes it."

Alec shook his head. "You drugged him. You threatened him. This isn't normal!" At Isabelle's utterly innocent look, he threw up his hands and stalked out. At least Magnus could be his safe haven until the mood passed.

Alec sighed as he walked back into his room. He hadn't noticed before, but the hearts had little sayings on them. Like…he looked closer. "Alec+Magnus"? "Aaah!" he shrieked, ripping off the hearts.

Jace, walking by, grinned in at him. "Happy valentine's day!" he shouted gleefully, then took off running before Alec could catch him.

Taking deep breaths, Alec yanked on the ends of his hair. "Okay, it's okay, nothing permanent," he muttered to himself. Trying not to look at his walls, he opened his closet to get dressed and escape. But in front of his eyes were more pink articles of clothing than he'd ever seen, even counting Isabelle's substantial collection. He could feel blood vessels bursting in his eyes. His clothes had to be somewhere, right?

Or not. Which was why Alec walked to Magnus Bane's in a pink t-shirt and dark red pants (the closest to his preferred black he could find). But it was okay…he kept clothes with Magnus, too. _In case, well, _something_ happened_, Alec thought, then blushed at the memories. He happened to look around then; he was passing a store selling-of course-valentines and candy. In their window, he could see his reflection, and sobered up instantly. Once he got to Magnus', he could just change, then burn what he was currently wearing.

Finally reaching Magnus' door, Alec breathed a sigh of relief. He'd survived the morning and left Isabelle's reach virtually unscathed (she was currently gluing varying sizes and colors of hearts together, making cards for everyone). Magnus would understand.

Magnus Bane, clad in a white shirt with pink hearts and sparkly red pants (and spiked, glittery red hair), threw open the door when he heard Alec's steps. "Be my valentine?" he asked jokingly.

He looked slightly bewildered when Alec screamed.


	5. And a Dollar Short

Wow, so...updates are at best sporadic. Sorry 'bout that. :(

Alec woke up with a smile on his face. He usually did when a mostly unclothed Magnus Bane was sleeping next to him. (Too much? NO. :D) Turning his head to the side to take in said sleeping warlock, he found the oval cat eyes already open. "Hullo, stranger," he murmured.

Magnus reached out a finger and tapped Alec's nose. "Well, hi. What did you say your name was again?" Alec's eyes narrowed as Magnus laughed.

"Hmph," Alec grunted. "_I'm_ getting some breakfast. You can get your own." They both got out of bed-the Shadowhunter reached without looking into the drawer he kept spare clothes in and pulled out a shirt and pants, while the warlock stretched, brushed his hair, and stood looking into his closet thoughtfully.

Magnus Bane whirled around suddenly, beaming. Alec was facing the door while hopping into his pants (still shy after…er, anyway…). Magnus cleared his throat showily, then made a show of looking at his nails when Alec finally turned around.

"What?" Alec asked, totally confused as Magnus' only response was to look at him expectantly, tapping his foot. "Do I get a clue?"

"Feliz cumpleanos?" Magnus hinted and mimed blowing the candles out on a cake.

"Shit!" Alec exclaimed. Magnus raised an eyebrow. "Sorry, not what I meant. Happy birthday, Magnus."

Alec had escaped fairly quickly, citing a rune he needed to look up. Once out of the house (and hopefully out of range of Magnus' scarily good psychic skills), he ran to a mall. It was the exact place he tried to stay away from. Hordes of demons were fine compared to whole stores with clothes that were overpriced and pretty much all the same, peppy mundies packed together, and too much noise (and smells-I'm looking at you, Hollister) to sense a demon until it was on top of you.

Okay, so he'd forgotten Magnus Bane's birthday. But no one else needed to know that, right?

"Alec!" a high-pitched voice shrieked.

He spun around. "_Isabelle?_ What are you doing here?"

Isabelle looked confused. "It's the mall. Where else would I be?"

"Uh, try out fighting demons and ridding the world of evil, maybe? Although the mall is probably the root of all evil anyway." Alec looked suspiciously at Victoria's Secret, then continued scanning the stores for something glittery or, well, really close-fitting, maybe? Like he knew.

Now Isabelle looked knowingly at her brother. "It's Magnus Bane."

Alec grimaced. "How did you know?"

"Who else could get you into a mall?" She rolled her eyes. "But he's not here. So…anniversary? Birthday?" Isabelle guessed.

"Birthday." Alec caught sight of something shimmery and blue and headed towards it, Isabelle trailing behind. "What about that?" He pointed.

Isabelle coughed politely. "You're just saying that 'cause it's sparkly, right?" Alec blushed. "Anyway, the store's closed. See the sign conveniently on the door at eye level? It moved yesterday."

Alec groaned. "Okay, whatever. And I don't see anything wrong with it. Go buy your millionth pair of shoes or whatever you came here for." Isabelle left-actually listening to him for once-and he resumed his search.

A kiosk in the center of the hallway featured a display of hair dyes, sprays, and some other products that made Alec's toes curl in fear. Still, he made himself look, and found a relatively harmless-looking bottle that apparently made your hair all glittery and-sensual? He shuddered.

_It's Magnus' birthday. It's for him. I can do this,_ Alec told himself encouragingly. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the little money he had. (Okay, think about it. Somehow they have to get money, but they _kill demons_ for a living. So a) how, and b) why, because they don't need it to actually survive or anything, although they still need to buy food...BUT ANYWAY.) "Shit!" Alec exclaimed. A wide-eyed little kid gasped and clapped his hands over his ears before running off to his mother.

Alec could care less.

The hair stuff cost a dollar more than he had. One dollar, and he'd be fine and Magnus would be fine and hell, the entire world would be fine. But no. Muttering to himself, Alec stalked off. He didn't see anything remotely Magnus-like, and he was running out of time. Actually-he looked at the sky, finally out of the claustrophobia-inducing mall (you KNOW that's how they tell time)-he was _out_ of time. He jammed his hands into his pockets and strode off towards Magnus Bane's apartment. What was he going to say?

Alec reached the apartment and closed the door, shutting his eyes and leaning against it. _Shit_. But at least Magnus wasn't home.

The Shadowhunter pushed off the wall and flopped on the brightly colored couch. He pounded his head into the arm of the chair, frustrated and exhausted (and channeling Potter Puppet Pals: _"Angst. Angst Angst."_).

So he didn't notice that he was being watched. "Alec? Are you…okay?" For once, Magnus really didn't know what to say.

The object of his attention sat up slowly, his face flushed. "Magnus?" he croaked.

Magnus Bane perched on the edge of the couch. "If I'd known my birthday was going to cause this much trouble, I wouldn't have mentioned it," he offered drily.

"It wasn't your fault!" Alec protested. "And…I really did try…" He pouted unconsciously, his blue eyes getting all big and round.

The High Warlock of Brooklyn hugged Alec to him. "I really don't care. It's just an excuse for a party, really."

Alec sat bolt upright. "A party? People? _Here?_"

Magnus laughed. "Not tonight. And…not technically people. Calm down, Alec."

He relaxed a bit. "I _did_ try," he repeated earnestly. "I found a store, but apparently it closed yesterday, and I found some glittery hair cra-er, stuff, but it cost a dollar more than I had. It was crazy."

"Aaah!" Magnus cried, grinning. "You were literally a day late and a dollar short!"

Alec looked confused. "Um. Yeah?"

Magnus: … "Right. I keep forgetting you were raised under a rock."

That only perplexed Alec more. "The Institute is stone, sure, but that would be _in_ a rock…" He trailed off as he realized Magnus was laughing at him. "Hey!"

Magnus just grinned and kissed Alec loudly. "It's the thought that counts."

Hey, bonus cliché! No, wait, two? Yippee. :)


End file.
